


Kiss-Me-Quick

by fifiefum



Series: The Wizard in the Backyard [1]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Magic, Aristocracy, Aristocrat!America, First Kiss, Fluff, Gardens, M/M, Mutual Pining, Romance, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Wizard!england, Wizards
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2020-05-02
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:34:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23963197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fifiefum/pseuds/fifiefum
Summary: Arthur is aware the duke was his neighbor. But that didn't give the blueblood an excuse to summon him so suddenly in the morning! Even if, this has been happening for a few months... or that he's got a little crush on the man.
Relationships: America/England (Hetalia)
Series: The Wizard in the Backyard [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1727626
Comments: 13
Kudos: 58





	Kiss-Me-Quick

**Author's Note:**

> The prompt was: Under Stormy Skies
> 
> I just hope it hit the mark... barely.

Something wet dripped onto his left hand as he reached for the scrambled eggs. Alfred paused for a moment, slightly irked at the wet circle on his skin before continuing on.  _ Plop! _ Another dropped on his mango juice, noticeable ripples rocked against the glass.  _ Okaaay _ , he was not imagining that. The young man looked at his breakfast, suspicion rising. And fear. He knew he was a sought-after bachelor (often an asshole), but no one would go that far as to--

He felt it again on his hair, wet and large. 

Alfred slowly placed his fork and knife with such gentleness and quietness that even the dowager queen would have raised a brow as nothing about him was ever that gentle and quiet (Now, that wasn't true!). He watched as a droplet fell on his barely eaten breakfast. The duke thought, _ 'Well, shit' _ , and braced himself before looking up.

As he raised his head, he realized it wasn't some sort of monster or demon creeping on him from the canopy of his bed. But he still wasn't relieved when he noticed an angry cloud above him. Slowly swirling in a stormy gray as big wet drops began trailing down on him, his bed, and his breakfast. 

The frightened duke shoved aside the breakfast tray. Standing up and away from the bed, he watched as the little angry cloud followed him. "Toris!" 

The cloud got bigger and bigger as Alfred tried to cover himself from the rain inside his own bedroom. He looked at his now-soaked breakfast forlornly before yelling again for his butler. "Toris!" Alfred heard quick steps and an anxious "Sir?--"

"Toris, help!"

A brunett opened a door to a flooding room of Alfred shielding himself with a pillow from a storm inside his bedroom. Toris back away from the door as Alfred began running out of his drenched chamber with his equally soggy pajamas. "Sir, what's--?"

"No time! Call for him!" He narrowly avoided crashing down on his butler before regaining balance.

"Sir--! I'm sorry but did you mean--?!"

The duke bolted down the corridor, the large raining cloud was following him. Alfred noticed it immediately and flung open a window that faced the gardens. "Yes, him!" He threw his legs over the window, "The wizard in the backyard!" Alfred gripped the window frames, preparing for it as the rain pattered on him.

"ARTHUR!"

And the duke fell. From the window on the third floor.

* * *

_ Sir Arthur, _

_ The Duke of Sableon is currently under a situation that can only be relieved by your powers of such caliber. I wish to ask for your time to identify the cause and, hopefully, cure such troubles that have befallen the lord of the house.  _

_ I hope for you to come visit today or at your earliest availability. _

_ Head Butler of the House of Sableon, _

_ Toris Laurinaitis _

Arthur gave the soldier that had given him the letter with a long bleak stare. The dark-haired man avoided his eyes. The wizard scoffed as he threw the letter on the pile of leaves beside him. Arthur was just having a peaceful morning watering and tending to his quaint garden of herbs and flowers when a soldier rudely interrupted his conversation with a little dryad. The soldier had shoved it to him with such 'urgency' he scared off Arthur's new friend!

He had to give some credit to Toris. It wasn't often a butler could write a letter with more formality and propriety than his master. Though, formality and propriety aren't exactly what Duke Jones is recognized for. Handsome? Yes. A gentleman? Arthur was dubious. But polite and refined? Ha, no!

He snapped his fingers and the pile of leaves with the letter was on fire. The soldier audibly gulped when the burning pile crackled. The bright red flames didn't spread nor did it smolder the grass beneath.

"Wait here," Arthur commanded the other with a finger pointed to the ground. Daring the man to follow him to his house.

Arthur took his sweet time looking for his satchel. After all, he was requested (more like ordered) to go solve another person's problems so suddenly without much thought to whether or not he was busy himself. Well, he wasn't really busy as the wizard had nothing to do except restocking a few not-really-needed potions here and there. But he was curious as to what mess the manchild of a duke had gone up to. Sighing, Arthur hopes it was not as worse as the curses he was afflicted before.

When he heard the loud yell of his name from the other side of the hedge, Arthur was tempted to peek in and sneer at who dared to scream the wizard's name so early in the morning. And, perhaps,  _ curse _ the fellow that ruined the peace. The incident  _ was  _ strange, but he refused to break a personal oath of being someone a bit more 'proper' than his previous years.

From what was implied in the letter, it may have been the young lord that had caused him to over-water his Forget-Me-Nots.

As he locked the front door, he couldn't help but not deny himself of the satisfaction of delaying the summons to the estate that was just beside his little cottage. Just out of spite (and anxiousness to what problem Alfred had gotten himself into). So he turned the keys ever so slowly it rivaled that of how the hour hand of a clock moved. He saw the soldier shifting his feet with impatience in the corner of his eye.  _ Click! _

"Well then," the wizard grumbled as he adjusted the satchel over his shoulder, "Lead on."

Arthur has been inside the mansion of his neighbor a few times, which was a lot more than he would have liked. He can practically draw a map of the whole mansion on the back of his hand. The wizard liked the interior though, who wouldn't with such wonderful and meticulously planned furnishings, he didn't like the owner just as much as the aesthetic that seemed to vary but connect each individual room. He liked the duke's ability to connect such different pieces much more than he'd like to admit himself.

The green-eyed wizard was led to a corridor that only led to the most beautiful garden of the Sableon Fief. Huh! Arthur doesn't agree with that sentiment. 

The soldier nodded at him to proceed to the hallway. The familiar face of Toris greeted Arthur as they neared the glass doors to the gardens. Once again, the brunett's face was the same nervous mess Arthur had seen the last, what,  _ thirteen  _ times during this month only? And it was only the third week! The duke certainly had a less-desirable streak with curses, didn't he?

"Sir Arthur!" The butler's face was of pure relief when he turned to see the wizard calming treading down the hall. "I'm sorry that I interrupted your morning again but--"

Arthur waved his hand. "Oh, that's alright. Is it still the same case of dog slobber?" Ugh, that one was a fairly common curse. Easy to brew, difficult to make the afflicted person drink. 

The butler shook his head. Arthur drolled on. "Frog Vomiting? Blue Dues? Vampirism? ..."

"Err, nothing that has happened before actually." Toris tugged at his collar. The wizard's presence was always heavy, though it was perhaps the overly-large cloak. 

"A new one, then?" Arthur sighed in annoyance, "Was it severe enough that you had to move him outside his room?"

"No, definitely not as serious as the one from last week, though, " Toris reached for the doorknobs, "It's as equally messy-- It's better for you to see for yourself." 

The stained glass doors opened to a garden with such colorful vibrancy and a drenched man sitting on the chair under the roofed table set. A man who was... rained under the  _ roof  _ of the outdoor terrace. Arthur barely restrained an amused whistle. Now  _ that  _ was new.

The rain was falling freely from the sloped ceiling to the visibly upset man in front of Arthur. The stormcloud was a familiar sight. The wizard can't help but smirk at the soggy mess his employer had gotten himself this time. "So, " Arthur wheezed to control himself from outright laughing, "Who did you piss off this time, my lord?"

The duke pouted like the man-child that he was, not at all happy but used to the curses inflicted upon him. "How 'bout you guess, Arthur? I'm sure it won't be that hard with all the rain on me!" Alfred locked his eyes on the wizard's daring the other to even chuckle at his predicament.

Arthur coughed to hide the laughter that found its way to escape from his lips. He was getting paid a handsome amount if he was civil, after all. Still grinning in hilarity, he chided the young duke, "I take it you didn't heed my advice to not attend the party held by the Kirklands then?"

Alfred huffed, denying another mistake he made, "Your sister doesn't exactly take losing in an argument well." Thunder rumbled from the stormclouds as if to grumble along with the cursed aristocrat.

The wizard thanked Toris as the butler offered a seat and excused himself. The green-eyed man sat across Alfred with a humph and a cringe. " _ Half _ -sister. We share only the same father and the name 'Kirkland'. Nothing else."

"You forgot the eyebrows."

"Yes," Arthur hissed, "Be that as may, at least I know the right potion to help your drenched arse." The wizard vaguely gestured to the flooding side of the patio. "Lady Aisling often used the same rainstorm curse on those that pissed her off. Often enough for me to memorize its breaking potion."

The duke perked up to Arthur's statement. The man's blue eyes were filled with tired relief. Arthur understood that; he was once victimized by his older sister by the same curse years ago. The rain and thunder were very uncomfortable. And freezing his bollocks off.

Huh, this was the first time he had seen Alfred without his glasses. The duke was starting to turn red from the cold water. He must be going under a fever, too. But that wasn't his problem! Not at all. Not even when his companion's golden complexion seemed to turn gray under to the constant raining on him. Nor when the younger man almost died from last week's curse. Arthur thinks that Alfred may as well have been cursed to be cursed almost every waking moment. At least the wizard has a reason to see the duke now and then if only to remove or break said curses. Arthur will keep that to himself.

"I'll come back this afternoon with the breaking potion."

"Oh thank the gods. I don't think I can handle being wet any longer."

The wizard scolded himself to not think about something that would rather like to be wet in the presence of a sculpted young man. "Hm. Oh!" Arthur looked around to the multitude of flowers and plants in the garden recalling that he didn't have a particular ingredient that was needed for the removal but was present behind Alfred, "You don't happen to mind if I ask a Kiss or two from you, my lord?"

Alfred suddenly slipped in his seat and spluttered in surprise, "Wha-what! ...I think I, uh, misheard you... ?"

The wizard rolled his eyes, "A Kiss. I'd need one for the breaking to work." Arthur raised a regal brow at the flushing and squeaking man in front of him. The rain was pouring buckets now. At this rate, Alfred is definitely going down with a cold. 

"Uh, I- Wha..." The duke adjusted himself on his seat. Alfred was being difficult again, was he stingy about plucking a single flower? Arthur admires a person that takes care of their garden but this is actually important!

"I only need one Kiss."

"Now?! As in, right now?"

Arthur pursed his lips. "No, it's alright if I take one when I'll come back in the afternoon."

The other was silent as if his life depended on the choice he'd make. Arthur watched as his companion took a deep breath and raised a finger, face, and neck a flattering shade of pink. Oh, he wasn't actually furious, was he? 

"One kiss... Just one."

"Yes. Kiss-Me-Quick and nothing else. Just that." Arthur gathered himself and stood up. "I expect it to be vibrant and not messy this afternoon, my lord. I'll see you then." He turned and walked his way back to his cottage, reminding himself to not forget to put a few sunflower seeds this time.

The wizard was completely unaware of the crimson mess he'd left the duke in. Muttering and covering his face with his wet, wrinkled hands.

_ "... He, he actually...! Expecting me to--! A kiss! ... My first...!" _

The wizard speed-walked his way to the back garden, absentmindedly shaking the contents of the bottle in his nimble fingers. Today's problem was easier to break compared to the other curses. Granted it was because it was Aisling's most-used spell. And that he had lived in the same household as her for over half of his life. 

Nonetheless, an early breaking meant early payment. And a saved blond blue-eyed hunk of a duke. Though, Alfred really should his mouth shut half of the time. If Arthur wasn't living nearby, the aristocrat would have a hard time finding a competent magician and herbalist in the area. The fief was known for its industrial strength, not a heavy reliance on magic. The young Duke of Sableon was both lucky and unlucky at the same time.

Arthur twisted the stained glass doors open. Alfred was there, standing near the multitude of flowers. As the wizard got closer, he saw the duke pluck a bundle of Kiss-Me-Quicks from its bushes. 

A large cloud was still situated atop the golden hair of the lord of the house and almost half the overly-huge beautiful garden. Arthur watched the big and hurried way the droplet hit the sun-kissed skin, now turning a pale tan due to the cold rain, and on his nearly-transparent shirt. Even in the distance, he could make out the other man's musculature. The wizard felt the tips of his ears heating up and Arthur was sure it wasn't because of the three o'clock sun.

He marched over to the cursed duke, pulling the hood of his cloak as he did so. The cold drops of rain were cold as it began to soak through the think fabric of his cloak. "Good afternoon, my lord. Are you ready?"

Arthur didn't mean to be near soundless when he made his way but the younger man flinched at the sound of Arthur's voice, dropping the flowers in his hands before facing his neighbor. Arthur groaned as he bowed to pick up the bunch. He plucked a single flower and mixed it inside the potion in his hands.

"Uh-Um, Arthur... ?" Alfred had said it so quietly, Arthur could have not have heard him if it weren't for their close distance. When the green-eyed wizard rose and looked back up, he was greeted by a wonderfully cute side of Alfred. Flushed and soaked with rainwater from the tips of his hair to his bare feet on the ground, twisting the fabric on the edge of his sleeves. Blue eyes that not shrouded by his thick glasses were staring back into his own greens. 

For a moment, Arthur stood there blinking and unmoving as Alfred fumbled with his words. Suddenly, he couldn't hear the words from the lips of the other man but only the pitter-patter of the rain on the grass beneath their feet. And then, under the unforgiving storm on their heads, Arthur heard a: "If-If you won't, then I will!"

Strong arms had gripped his waist and shoulder and he was promptly pulled into cold but soft lips. 

_ Wha- What... _

It took him the whole kiss to process that Alfred, the duke who was also his neighbor and employer was kissing him in the middle of the gardens where cursed rain was pouring down on both of them. And he responded by leaning onto the drenched form of the taller man. Arthur wasn't sure when he closed his eyes but when those cloud-soft lips left his own, his grip on the glass bottle of the potion slackened. Its dull thud on the grass went unnoticed to him and Alfred as his hands reached to the nape of the other's neck to cut the little distance between them for another touch of those sinfully sweet lips. Their teeth knocked into each other but both neither gave a damn. The wizard titled his head and their kiss deepened. 

For a moment, they just stood under the cursed storm cloud, kissing, and just  _ feeling _ . The fact that the rain on their bodies was a curse and the potion to break it was on the wet grass was ignored. Eyes half-lidded and lips covered by the other, Arthur wouldn't have this kiss from the man he'd wanted for  _ months _ any other way.

Something wet and rough suddenly swiped across his bottom lip. Arthur jolted in the realization that he was kissing the Duke of Sableon and pushed the other away.

Oh.  _ Oh, Alfred kissed him. He kissed Alfred. _

"... Arthur?"

The wizard back away from the duke, mumbling, and crimson red from the events. 

"Arthur, what's wrong?"

...

Arthur crouched and reached for the potion he dropped earlier and shoved it to Alfred's hard chest. He kept his eyes on his rained-on sleaves as he shouted in embarrassment. "Here! Drink! You idiot!"

The wizard turned away and ran faster than he ever did in his whole life.

That stupid git! Kissing him out of the blue, he really was a player. He shouldn't have let his guard down. Arthur took out a handkerchief and wiped his nose as he exited the sprawling estate. 

Confused and embarrassed and still feeling tingly all over from the kiss, he wonders what was going through Alfred's head when he was about to give him the potion.

_ Certainly, it wasn't because the other felt the same-- No. _ Arthur shook his head, there was no way Alfred would. Perhaps it was because of the Kiss-Me-Quick flowers? The name must have confused him! Yes, that was probably it.

Inside, he hopes it wasn't that at all.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it!!! I have finally got out of writer's block. I kinda like this AU, so maybe I'll make another a sequel or something.
> 
> Dang, I missed writing. Also, stay safe okay? uwu


End file.
